


higher than soul can hope

by Quintessence



Series: whumptober requests 2020 [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Pining Gon Freecs, Whump, Whumptober 2020, for a whump fic this is shockingly soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27067438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quintessence/pseuds/Quintessence
Summary: "It’s silly; the situation is undoubtedly a disaster--the two of them are trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, Killua’s ankle is badly broken, and they don’t know how long it’ll be until they’re rescued--but all Gon can feel is a warm, exhilarated contentment.  Killua’s in his arms.  Somehow, that’s all that matters.  The world could be ending around them, the sky falling and the oceans swelling, and provided they were together like this, Gon is certain he wouldn’t be afraid."In which Gon and Killua get trapped beneath a collapsed building, and that somehow isn't the most significant development of the day.
Relationships: Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck
Series: whumptober requests 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975504
Comments: 54
Kudos: 450





	higher than soul can hope

**Author's Note:**

> hello, everyone!!!! it's been a while, hasn't it??
> 
> most of my absence was due to the fact that i've been grinding on my hxh rarepair big bang fic nonstop since early september (it's platonic mito & killua found family goodness i'm so e x c i t e d), and i haven't had much time or energy to devote to other projects. but fortunately i've gotten to the final editing stages on that fic, meaning i can ease up a bit & work on other stuff now!!!
> 
> this fic is a whumptober request for prompt 4: collapsed building that i had a ton of fun with!!!!! warning for character injury & potential claustrophobia triggers (nothing described graphically, but i know some people might not enjoy reading about characters trapped under rubble).
> 
> alright, i think that's all from me!!!! please enjoy!!!!!

The moment he realizes the building is collapsing, Gon has only one priority.

Killua. No matter the cost, protect Killua.

Gon’s long outgrown the fear of pain. His body has endured so much brutality and violence over the years that it’s just become a thing. A thing he wears. A thing he inhabits. Its injuries are just that-- _its_ injuries, not his. Not harm to Gon himself.

But anything happening to Killua? Killua suffering pain or fear or cruelty? Killua broken and bloodied and bruised? That would cut Gon to his very core, would reach deep past his sternum and crack him clean open. So the second he senses what’s about to happen, it’s the only thought he has. _Killua._

There’s hardly a split second between the moment the building begins to tremble and the moment the whole thing crumbles on top of them, but Gon doesn’t need much time. Not when Killua’s in danger. There’s no other situation when his reflexes are sharper, no other time when he’s faster or more agile. So in an instant, he’s across the room, grabbing Killua tight in both of his arms and pulling him to the floor, shielding his body with his own. And as the whole room begins collapsing, as the floor and ceiling both give way and the rubble begins raining down around them, Gon doesn’t move. He bolsters the Nen barrier around his body as best he can and holds Killua tight to his chest as the building crumbles on top of them. As everything shakes and shudders and at last gives way, that’s his only focus. Just hold onto Killua.

Gon clings tight even after the shaking stops, even after the concrete has settled into place above them. He refuses to take any chances, not with Killua’s life on the line. So he simply holds, eyes squeezed shut and arms so tight that they’ve begun to tremble, until Killua stirs beneath him.

“You can get off now,” he grumbles, reaching back an elbow to poke at Gon. There’s something oddly unsteady in his voice--Gon must really be crushing him--so he gets off as quickly as he can manage in the tight space..

The rubble’s fallen so that there’s a bit of a gap where the two of them landed. Perhaps three feet high, and just wide enough for the two of them to sit, hunched over, next to each other. So, careful not to jostle any of the precariously balanced concrete, Gon sits up as best he can in the tight space.

Killua sits up even more slowly, gingerly pushing himself to a seated position with a slight wince. He’s favoring his left leg, hardly moving it at all as he adjusts, and it’s clear why, Gon realizes, with a sick weight plunging into his stomach. His ankle is broken. Badly. Badly enough that his pants leg is bloodied and Gon catches a glimpse of bone poking through the skin.

Killua must notice Gon staring, because he swiftly pulls down the hem of his pants to cover the injury.

“Don’t,” he says, poking a stern finger towards Gon. “I know you’re about to, so don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

Killua sighs.

“Don’t blame yourself that I got a little banged up. You literally used yourself as a human shield to try to protect me, and you almost certainly spared me from a lot worse given how your aura is better suited for defense than mine, so don’t go beating yourself up about how ‘it wasn’t enough and you failed and it’s all your fault’ or any of your usual nonsense.”

“But I--”

“No,” Killua interrupts. “You realized what was happening and your immediate reaction was to protect me. It’s quite possible you saved my life, but at the very least, you kept me from getting badly hurt. I’m not going to let you convince yourself that that was somehow a failure.”

Gon’s quiet for a moment. It’s dim in their small interstice between the rubble, just a faint glow of sunlight filtering in between some of the cracks, but Gon can see well enough to tell that Killua’s unusually pale and that his skin looks clammy. He’s in a lot of pain, even if he won’t admit it.

“Can I at least have a look at the injury?”

Killua sets his jaw.

“It’s a compound fracture; that’s all you need to know. If you look at it, you’re only going to make yourself feel worse. We’ll go to the hospital as soon as we get out of here, and between Nen and modern medicine, I’ll be back on my feet in no time.”

Gon huffs out a sharp breath.

“Well I can’t just do nothing. I can’t just sit here and pretend you’re not in pain.”

Killua scrubs a hand over his face.

“Sometimes you’re so you that it borders on hilarious.”

Killua’s tone stays light and conversational, but Gon knows he’s masking how badly it hurts. Gon’s no stranger to broken bones himself, and he’s well acquainted with the particular stomach-turning agony the moment it snaps, and with the fiery, throbbing pain that can last for hours afterwrds. He’d first broken a bone when he was six years old, had fallen while climbing a tree and landed wrong on his wrist. He remembers cradling his hand to his chest and crying the whole drive to the hospital. And he remembers Mito holding him and gently rubbing his back in the waiting room. The comforting pressure of her arms around him and the soothing feeling of her hands against his back were the only things that made him feel better.

Oh, that’s not a bad idea, actually.

Maybe Gon can’t treat Killua’s injury, but he could try to comfort him, even if only a little. He could try to soothe him, hold Killua and stroke his hair and help him to relax. It’s not much, certainly. Not anywhere near enough. But it’s the best he’s got.

There isn’t much space in their little gap in the rubble, but if Gon moves carefully he can scoot just a bit closer to Killua and put an arm around his shoulder to pull him close to his chest. Immediately, Killua stiffens in his grasp.

“What are you doing?” he asks, tone hesitant and uncertain.

“I just thought it might make you feel better. I can’t do much about the injury or the pain, but this sort of thing always helped me when I got hurt growing up.”

It’s most of the truth, anyway. Of course there’s the part of Gon that simply wants to hold Killua just to have him in his arms, to feel the comforting pressure and warmth of Killua’s body against his own. Of course Killua simply fits so perfectly beside Gon that he can’t help but think that they were meant to be together like this. But those things truly are secondary right now. He swears it. He really does just want to comfort Killua.

For a few long moments, Killua’s still stiff in Gon’s arms, clearly thinking it over. Gon hardly dares to breathe, preparing himself for Killua to shove him away and snap that Gon’s being an idiot. But after a while, after holding holding perfectly still for longer than Gon would think possible, he slowly relaxes against Gon’s side, allowing his head to lay heavy on his chest. Gon’s heart swells large and bright.

“So you’ve realized it too,” Killua murmurs.

“Realized what?”

“That we can’t just punch our way out of here or we’ll risk having everything collapse on top of us. Someone has to dig us out from the top down, not the bottom up.”

Slowly, Gon begins tracing idle patterns on Killua’s shoulder with his fingertips.

“Yeah, I figured we might be here a while.”

Killua shivers, just barely perceptible, as Gon strokes the exposed skin on his neck.

“We don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to opponents with explosion Nen abilities, do we?”

Gon laughs, and Killua’s head moves with the motion of Gon’s chest. Gon can’t help but like that. It makes it seem like they’re connected.

“No, we really don’t.”

Slowly, Killua wraps an arm around Gon’s torso so that he’s resting completely on Gon’s chest. It takes all of Gon’s restraint not to lean down and press as kiss to Killua’s hair. It’s just that he’s lying so close, and his body is so warm and solid and real, and Gon can feel the rise and fall of his every breath, and all of it combined is nearly enough to overwhelm his reason, nearly enough to make him do something he’s bound to regret.

Killua rubs his face slightly against Gon’s chest, in a way that somewhat reminds Gon of a cat, and sighs, just barely audible.

“You were right,” he murmurs. “It does help with the pain.”

Gon strokes gently down the side of Killua’s spine.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

It’s silly; the situation is undoubtedly a disaster--the two of them are trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, Killua’s ankle is badly broken, and they don’t know how long it’ll be until they’re rescued--but all Gon can feel is a warm, exhilarated contentment. Killua’s in his arms. Somehow, that’s all that matters. The world could be ending around them, the sky falling and the oceans swelling, and provided they were together like this, Gon is certain he wouldn’t be afraid.

“Your heart is beating really fast,” Killua says softly.

Damn it. Of course his traitorous heart just has to give him away. He doesn’t want Killua to catch on, doesn’t want him to realize how Gon feels and pull away from him. Perhaps it’s selfish, but he can’t help but want to keep Killua in his arms as long as possible.

“I guess I’m just nervous. You know, about your injury and about being trapped down here.”

Killua laughs--it’s quiet, so Gon hardly hears it, but he can feel it.

“The Gon I know wouldn’t be nervous in this situation.”

Gon’s face grows warm.

“Well, I mean--”

“Let’s go to dinner,” Killua interrupts. “When we get out of here, I want to go to dinner with you.”

Gon blinks.

“Well yeah, of course. I’m sure we’ll be hungry by the time we get out, and thirsty too, and I’m guessing we’ll both also want a really long shower, and--”

“No. I mean you and me. Going to dinner. Together.”

Gon pauses for a moment, trying to decipher what Killua means. The two of them go to dinner all the time--they’ve eaten practically every meal together since the day they met. What could Killua be trying to ask, then, if he and Gon do that sort of thing all the time? What could he be trying to imply?

And then the realization comes so abruptly and sharply that it’s all Gon can do not to jump.

“Oh,” he says, voice softer and more reverent than he intended. “You mean you want to…”

He trails off. It’s somehow too much to get the words out.

“Yes,” Killua replies, voice hardly above a whisper. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

If Gon was being silly before, now he’s just an utter lunatic, because he can’t help but feel that this is the best day he can ever recall having. The explosion, being trapped beneath a building, the hope of rescue being a far off, hazy thing--they all pale in comparison to the bright, buoyant, ever-expanding joy at Killua asking him to dinner. He’d be trapped under a thousand buildings, each heavier than the last, provided it ended up like this every time.

And then, because he imagines that this sort of thing is permitted now, he slowly leans down and presses a kiss to Killua’s hair. It’s dusty and gritty from the debris, leaving a chalky residue on Gon’s lips, but it doesn’t matter. None of it matters, because Killua is in Gon’s arms, and Gon is kissing his hair, and those are the only truths Gon knows.

And seven hours later, when the rescue squad digs them out, pulling away that last piece of concrete and letting sunlight, warm and bright, pour down into the gap, Gon still has Killua in his arms.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so very much for reading!!!! as always, comments are never required but always appreciated & i reply to each one!!!! i'm also available to holler at via [tumblr](https://storybookprincess.tumblr.com/) & love talking with readers if you wanna say hey!!!!
> 
> hoping to have more requests out as soon as i can manage!!! take good care until i see you again!!!! xo


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